Of all the premium water bottle brands in the world, LARQ is one of the most exciting. It is the world’s first self-purifying water bottle using UV-C LED technology. Founder Justin Wang struck a deal with Kevin O’Leary and Lori Greiner on Shark Tank. As of 2024, LARQ is estimated to be worth $50 million. LARQ was acquired by Brita in February 2024 for an undisclosed amount.
Justin Wang’s Background
Wang, who is of Chinese descent and grew up in San Francisco, California, worked as an academic research assistant for less than a year while studying economics at the University of California, Berkeley.
After graduating from college, Mr. Wang worked as an investment banking associate at Merriman Capital, Inc. In 2010, he moved to Shanghai, China, and became an investor at L Catterton, a position he held for three years.
Next, Justin became Vice President of beauty technology company FOREO in 2014 and was promoted to President a year later overseeing product management, strategy and marketing. In 2016, he joined the board of directors of luxury goods purveyor LELO.
Founding LARQ
Wang, who is also a nature lover, found that ordinary water bottles would eventually develop a bad smell. This meant that they were infected with bacteria, which was unpleasant for the user.
In 2017, he officially launched the self-cleaning LARQ water bottle. By using UV-C LED technology on the bottle cap, it can eliminate 99.99% of odor particles inside the bottle. The founder launched a Kickstarter campaign and raised $1.4 million in one month.
This helped the company generate $5.5 million in revenue in its first year, $9 million in its second year, and $14 million in its third year. In 2020, LARQ raised $10 million in a Series A round led by DCM and Seventure.
Shark Tank Recommendation by LARQ
In 2021, Justin Wang’s company didn’t need more funding but still wanted to appear on Shark Tank Season 12. He offered the Shark Tank 1% of his company for a staggering $500,000, the highest valuation ever on the show.
At first, the Sharks were completely in disbelief about the valuation, but Justin remained calm. Once the founder revealed LARQ’s sales performance, the mood in the room changed.
Kevin O’Leary, Lori Greiner and Robert Herjavec each offered $500,000 at different valuations. Mr. Wang asked the three of them if they could join forces for $1.5 million. Robert said no, but Kevin and Lori agreed, and the final transaction price was $1.5 million, accounting for 4%.
Success after Shark Tank
After a great promotion, Justin Wang’s water bottles were featured in online publications such as Forbes. According to SharkTankBlog.com, the deal with Lori and Kevin was not completed, but the business received a lot of publicity from the show. Larq has $6.5 million in the bank account, so they have enough money to grow.
According to TechCrunch, LARQ was acquired by Brita, one of the world’s leading water filtration companies. There is no evidence that the deal with Kevin and Lori was completed. LARQ is not listed as an investment on Greiner’s website, and the two have not mentioned the company in the media. If this is true, the Sharks missed out on a big return!
The company currently sells four products: LARQ Bottle PureVis, LARQ Pitcher PureVis, LARQ Bottle Filtered, and LARQ Bottle Twist Top. LARQ Bottle PureVis is highly rated by customers, with a 4.6 rating out of 6,378 reviews on its website.
In addition to the website, LARQ products can also be purchased on Amazon, Best Buy and other well-known e-commerce platforms. In an interview with Forbes, Justin revealed that he expects revenue to reach $30 million in 2022. According to LARQ’s LinkedIn profile, the company is currently valued at $50 million and has 27 employees.
Categories: Shark Tank
Source: svlsf.edu.vn